Slitting mechanism for folding machines



2 H m P APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, I919- gill/Ill! W F LAUTENSCHLAGER SLITTING MECHANISM FOR FOLDING MACHINES.

w; F, LAUTENSCHLAGER. SLITTiNG, MECHANISM FOR FOLDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FI LED JUNE 25. 1919.

. Patented 0cm; M) 1922;

9 2 SHEETS-SHEE'I 2.

M6 M 6 M atented Unt. id, lHEE.

OFNEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS snrrrine MECHANISM non ronnine MACHINES.

Application filed June 25, 1919. Serial No. 306,627.

To all whom may concern j Be it knownthat I, VILLIAM F. LAnrnrI- SGHLAGER, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamih ton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Slitting Mechanism for Folding Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawmgs. 4 This invention relates to machines for folding the edges of leather, cloth and other pliable material, and more particularly to a mechanism for use in folding machines for slit ting the edge to be folded whenever desired. e

. All step by-step folding machines heretofore in common use have been provided with means for slitting the edge to befolded preliminary to theturning over of the edge and these means have been variously arranged, some operating continuously and i others at the will of the operator. It has beenfound,however, that slittingis required only on concave, or inside curves since it is,

unnecessaryon straight edges and on eonvez; outside curves. lln the cas'e'of the latter kind of curvesthere is an excess of ma terial in the turned over edge which pro duces better folded edge when it is puckered or plaited. On straight edges slit tingweakens the edge sothat it will not stand the pulling process. In all cases, however, it has been customary to arrange the ship ing means, which consists generally of a fixed' knife block and a movable knife blade cooperating therewith, in a perpendicular wright-angled relation to the normalline of feed. The result :ofthisarrangement has been that when the straight edges of the material were cut, the slits were perpendicular to the edge of the material but in folding the edge upon inside curves ofsmall radii, however, the work is notfed forward through the machine on the normal line of feed but is pivoted about the'center of the curve, consequently the work is turned and the slitting means then cuts slits on the inside curve which are oblique to the edge. Owing to these oblique cuts, the po'rtioiis turned over are irregular in shape and are apt to be displaced during the folding process which prevents the securing of a smooth, even and uniform edge on inside curves.

Theprincipal object of my invention is the provision a folding machine of means for slitting the edge to be folded so arranged that it will cut slits which are approximately perpendicular to the edge of the material on inside curves of very small radii.

A further object is the provision of such means which is normally without motion and inoperative and which may be thrown intooperation atthe will of'the operator.

Another object is the provision of a slitting mechanism so arranged that it may be thrown into and out of operation irrespective of the'speed at which the machine is run without jarring or vibration.

Other objects of the invention will be more specifically set forth and described hereinafter. g

.One of the important features of my invention consists in the particular arrangement of'the slitting knife in the machine at an angle tothe normal line of feed so that asthe work is pivoted in folding inside curvesof short radii the knife will cut slits which are approximately perpendicular to the lineof curve. Heretofore in most foldingmachines the knife has been arranged so arranged are slanting to the'line of curve,

thereby preventing a smooth fold. By slanting my knife so that the point is nearer to the operator than the back of the knife, I securecuts on inside curves of short radii which are substantially perpendicular to the curve and thereby secure, as a result, a more uniform folded edge; The use of a knife on a folding machineis limited, as a rule, to cutting'the edge to be folded on inside curves, because it'is unnecessary in straight portions and is a disadvantage and is unnecessary on outside curves because the folded edge is simply turned over and pleated.

Another important feature of my inventionconsists in the particular arrangement of the knife mechanism whereby it remains without motion until the slitting is desired when, by operating a treadle or other'suitable device, the knife is thrown into action and thereafter operates so long as the pressure is maintained upon the treadle or other device. This avoids wear and tear upon the parts of the machine and the knife mechanism operates only at times when slitting is desired.

The preferred form of slitting mechanism herein illustrated and described has been previously shown and described but not claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 1399,26 1, issued to me December 6, 1921 for v folding machines, and since the mechanism is shown in said Letters Patent in relation to the other parts of the folding machine,'it will be unnecessary in this specification and in the drawings accompanying it to show and describe all the parts of the folding machine, and for that reason, all the parts of the folding machine other than those constituting the slitting mechanism will merely be referred to without describing either their mode of operation or functions. For the sake of elearness I have designated the various parts in the drawings in this application with the same numerals as used in the said Letters Patent hereinb'efore referred to, to which'reference may be made for a more complete description of the parts of the folding machine not herein shown and described.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front end elevation of the machine, looking from left to right with respect to the station of the operator, showing the slitting mechanism in an inoperative position;Fig. 2 is an elevation similar to Fig. 1 of the slitting mechanism showing it in operative position; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the slitting mechanism viewed from the station of the operator; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the slitting mechanism looking toward the operator; Fig. 5 is a plan view of. the knife block and sectional view ofthe knife blade showing the relation of the same to each other and to the plow and gage in the machine; Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional viewQpartly in elevation, on line 66 in Fig. 4 looking from right to left and show ing the arrangement of the treadle operated lever for throwing the slitting. mechanism into and out of operation.

In the drawings I have shown the preferred form of my invention as applied to a folding machine such as is shown and described in an application executed by me on May 19, 1919, hereinbefore referred to, and Figure 1 of the drawings in this application is the same as Fig. 3 of the drawings of the previous case. Because of this fact it will be unnecessary to describe fully all the parts of said machine.

- The machine is provided with a frame or standard 10 having a base 14 with two forwardly extending arms, a lower arm 11 and an upper arm 12. A main shaft 20 is journalled in the lower part of the frame 10 and in the end of the arm 11 and is provided with a driving pulley 21.

Referring to Fig. 1, being a front end elevation of the machine, the operator being seated on the right, 25 designates a curved work-support having a bevelled portion 26 presented to the operator.

- The-folding instrumentalities consists of a gage 30 for guiding the work through the machine, a fold turner or plow 31 for turning over the edge of the work to be folded, a feed-bar 32 for feeding the work in a step-by-step manner forwardly in conjunction with the feed-roll 33, a presser foot 3 1 for holding the work between the feeding movements and a fold-presser or hammer 35 for pressing the turned over edge down upon the body-portion of the material and completing the fold. The slitting mechanism consists of a lower fixed knife-block 36, an upper movable knife 37 co-operating with said knife-block and means for actuating the movable knife.

For a full description of the folding instrumentalities, their mode of operation and description of the actuating mechanisms, said Letters Patent hereinbefore mentioned may be referred to.

Passing to a detailed description of my slitting mechanism it will be noticed that the movable knife 37, (Fig. 5) is arranged to eo-operate with the fixed knifeblock between the gage and the plow. The slitting means comprises a knife-block 36 provided with a slot 210 whereby it may adjustably fastened to the top of the lower arm 11 by ascrew 212. Arranged to cooperate with the knife-block is a knife blade 37 carried by a vertical knife-bar 213, and provided with a shearing edge and a donuiwardly projecting bevelled guide 21 1. The knife blade is provided with a slot 215 adapted to receive a screw 216 whereby it may be adjustably secured to the knife-bar. The latter is movably mounted in a block or bearing 217 which may be attached either to the block 161 or to the end of the arm 12. Movably mounted in the bearing block 217 is a guide-rod 219 having a split end 220 in which is fastened by a screw 221 a cross-bar 222 integral with a split collar surrounding and fastened 'to the top of the knife-bar 213 by a screw 223. The knife bar, guide rod and cross-bar thereby reciprocate as a unit and the guide rod prevents any twisting or turning of the knifebar and keeps the knife blade in alignment with the knife-block. (See Fig.

The knife blade is operated from the rockshaft 165 when desired, through the following means. Upon the end of the rock-shaft 165 is fastened a short arm 225 extending upwardly and obliquely toward the operator, the arm being of the same general form asiother arms in this machinehaving a split collar226at one end wherebyit is fastened connected bya pin 233 to a linkQSl which is ,in turn. pivotally connected to the cross-bar 222. tlhepin 233 also pivotally connects to the; arm 232 and link 234: a bar 235 the other end of which is pivotally connected to a depending bar 236, the lower end of which is fastenedzto One end of a. rod 238 running longitudinallythe machine on theside away from the operator, which is rotatably journalled in brackets 24:0 and 241 springing from theupperarm 12. The other QHd QflrQ oftherod 238 is turned back andunder the bracket 241 which acts as a:stop to limit the rotationof the rodinone direction. Collars 243-and 244 are arranged on the rod 238 and fastened theretof on either side of the bracket 240 to prevent longitudinal move ment of the rod. A sprlng 245 fastened. at

one end to the turned end 242 of the rod 238- and at its otherend to the frame ofthe machine,.holds theibar in the position shown in Fig. I. v i

. ;lhenormalposition of the knife operating parts is illustrated in Figure 1 where it willbeobserved the pin, 233, which ls the .pivot point of connection of the arm 232, the

link 2'3tand the bar235 is on center with the center .of therock-shaftf165. Any rocking @135 movement of that shaft does not, therefore, change the location of thepin 233 and has nouefiect :upon, the knife. operating mechanismand in consequence the knife blade 37 remains immovable Upon the rod 238 isfixed a lever C to the free endof which a treadle or other suitable. operating device is designedto be at tached by a rod 251 whereby the end of the leverma bedepressed, turning the rod 233 against t e tension of the spring 245.; The immediate result ofturning the rod 238 is to throw the pin 233 away from the centerof y. the rock-shaft 165 into the position ofthe located.

parts shown in Figure 2,and when the parts are in that position, therocking movement drum vrock-shaft 165 produces a reciprocating movement of the knife-bar and knife blade which results in cutting the edge of ,the material between the plow and the gage where the knife-block and knife blade are By means of the above construction, the operator absolutely controls the knife mechanism at all times and throws it into and out of operation by merely pressing down a treadle and releasing it.

Heretofore in folding machines the knife blades have beenfso arranged as tocutslits which were perpendicular to the normal. line of,feed that; is, the blades were arranged,

parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ma chine. "Where straight edges were out the slits were perpendicular, to the edge, but in cutting the edges onconcave or inside curves of small radii, the cuts were oblique to the edge because in folding such curves it is necessary to pivot the work which presents the edge to be out at an iangle to the knife and not perpendicular to it. This has resulted in choppy and uneven work on such curves. N i a i .1 0 avoid this, I have arranged my knife at anangle of approximately fifteen degrees to the main. l1orizontal axis vof the machine with the front of the knife nearer tothe op erator. By so doing li-have found that I get slits on inside curves of small radii which are approximately perpendicularto the edge of the curve and therebyl secure folds on such curves which are uniform, neat and finished with a smooth curving edge. Although I have specified the angle at which the knife is set and the angle of-the shearing edge of the knife-block to be approximatelv fifteen degrees, I do not limit myself to that angleasin difierent classesof work other angles greater or less than fifteen degrees may be found preferable.

ln case-it is desired, for any reason, to change the angle at which the knife is set to the normal line of feed, it may be done 7 by loosening the screw 223andturn1ng the knife-bar 213 into the desired angle and then sharpening the knife block so that the shearing edge will correspond-to the angle at which the knife is; set,

, It will be noticed .6) that the movement of the knife operating rod 238 is limited at both ends. The turned round or reversedend 2et2,which engages thebracket 211 when the knife is in inoperative position, limits the movement of therod in that direction. When the knife mechanism is thrown into operation by depressing the lever 250 mounted on the rod, (as shown in dotted lines inFig. 6), the end of the lever strikes against the lower flange on the upper arm l 2 which limits. the movement of the lever downwardly. The result is thatthe operator is enabled to press down uponthe treadle, thrdwing the knife operatingmeclr anism into action with full force and to the limit of the movemenhso that no special attention is required on the part of the operator in throwing the knife intoand out of operation and it is practically impossible to injure the mechanism or the machine irrespective of the force exertedby the operator on the treadle.

By arranging my connections with the slitting mechanism so that they are normally on. center and the slitting mechanisnris thrown into operative position by merely throwing the connections off center, I secure an importantadvantage because the throwing in and out of the knife operating mechanism has no effect'whatever upon the operation of the rock-shaft or other parts of the machine. In view of this fact I am enabled to throw my knife mechanism into and out of operation, irrespective of the speed at which the machine is operated and without effectingtheoperation of the other parts or causing any additional vibration or jar.

It is to be understood that my invention may be embodied in other forms of constructionthan thatherein shown and described and is not to be limited except where specifically described in the following claims.

' What I claim is 1. A slitting mechanism for folding machines c omprisin'g a knife-block adj ustably fixed in position and a knife-blade adapted to reciprocate in a straight path, the shearing edges of both said knife-block and knifeblade being obliqueto the normal line of feed.

2. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising two co-operatin g members, one fixed and the other movable, said fixed member lying in a horizontal plane and said movable member reciprocating in a straight path and both members having shearing edges oblique to the normal line of feed.

8. A slitting mechanism for folding ma chines comprising two co-operating members, one fixed and the other movable, said fixed member lying in a horizontal plane and said movable member reciprocating in a straight path,both members having shearing edges oblique to the normal line of feed, and means for operating said movable member at the will of the operator without interfering withthe operation of the folding machine.

4:. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising a bearing secured to a fixed part of the machine, a knife-bar movably mounted in said bearing and adapted for reciprocation therein in a straight path, a knife carried by said knife-bar, a fixed knife-block, said knife and said block being provided with co-operatin shearing edges oblique to the normal line or feed and means for operating saidknife-bar at the will of the operator to slit the edge of the material being folded.

5. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising a knife-bar movably mounted in a fixed part of the machine, a knife carried by said bar, a fixed knifeblock, said knife and said block being provided with co-operating shearing edges oblique to the normal line of feed and means whereby said knife-bar is reciprocated in a straight path at the will of the operator to cause said knife to cut slits on the edge of the material being fed through the machine.

6. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising a knife-bar movably mounted in a fixed part of the machine but normally at rest, a knife carried by said-bar, a fixed knife-block, said knife and said block being each provided with a shearing ed e oblique to the normal line of feed of tie material, a guide-rod for preventing any twisting of the knife-bar, a shaft for operat ing said knife-bar and knife to'cut and means whereby the operation of said knife is at all times within the control of the operator.

'7. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising two co-opeating members, one fixed and the other movable and each having a shearing edge oblique to the normal line of feed, a rocking member, connections between said rocking member and said movable member, said connections being normally on center, and means in the control of the operator for throwing said connections off-center to operate said movable member.

8, A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising two co-operating members, each having a shearing edge oblique to the normal line of feed and one being movable and the other fixed, a rocking member, a lever fixed on said rocking member, a link connection between said lever and said movable member, said link connection being normally on center with said rocking memher, and means for throwing said link connection off center with respect to said rocking member in order to operate said movable member to cut.

9. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising two co-operating members one fixed and the other movable, both having shearing edges oblique to the normal line of feed, and means permanently connected to said movable member for operating the same at the will of the operator without interfering with the operation of the machine.

10. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising two cooperating members, one fixed and the other movable, and each having a shearing edge oblique to the normal line of feed and means for operating said movable member to cut, connections between the movable member and the main shaft of the machine normally on center so that the movable knife blade is at rest and means for throwing said connections off center in order to impart operative motion to said movable knife blade.

11. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising two (ac-operating members, one fixed and the other movable, each of said members having a shearing edge oblique to the normal line of feed. a shaft for operating said movable member to cut, connections between said shaft and said movable member, said connections being am ranged on center with said shaft whereby said movable member isnormally at rest and means for throwing said connections off center in relation to said shaft to impart motion to said movable member to slit the edge of the material, said means for throwing said connections off center being at all times in the control of the operator.

12. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising a fixed knife block having a shearing edge and a movable knife blade normally at rest also provided with a shearing edge the shearing edges of said knife block and said knife blade being oblique to the normal line of feed, a rockshaft for operating said knife blade, a link connection between said knife blade and said rock-shaft, said link connection being normally on center with. said rockshaft whereby the movement of said rockshaft is of no effect upon said knife blade and means within the control of the operator for throwing said link connection off center in order to cause said knife blade to operate.

18. A slitting mechanism for folding machines comprising a fixed knife block having a shearing edge and a movable knife blade normally at rest also provided with a shearing edge, the shearing edges of said knife block and said knife blade being oblique to the normal line of feed, a rock-shaft for operating said knife blade, a link connection between said knife blade and said rockshaft, said link connection being normally on center with said rock-shaft Wherebythe movement of said rock-shaft is of no effect upon the said knife blade and treadle operated means within the control of the operator for throwing said link connection off center in order to cause said knife blade to operate,

In witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of May, 1919.

WILLIAM F. LAUTENSCHLAGER. 

